Coronavirus Gold Coast: Rate of infections

A top doctor says the medical community is “absolutely delighted” about a statistic they feared they wouldn’t see on the Gold Coast.

THE Gold Coast’s top federal doctor has given locals an A+ for their work in steering the city away from a major pandemic – with just 10 locals still infected by the coronavirus.

Roger Halliwell, the chair of the Primary Health Network, said Gold Coasters had helped save thousands of lives, with officials now revising their earlier predictions down from an infection rate of 25 per cent of the population in a six-month period.

“I would say the community is an 8 to 9 out of ten for the effort in social distancing, without any doubt at all – the response has been huge” Dr Halliwell said.

“A month a go we were looking 25 per cent of the population getting this illness that would have led to a few thousand deaths.

“Now we are absolutely delighted how we are going with this, the situation has been managed to sit below the capacity of our hospital systems, while we continue to put back up support like respiratory clinics and other measures in place.

“The reality now is we might not get to capacity, but it isn’t off the table yet.”

How active COVID-19 cases have declined on the Gold Coast.

Since the first case of coronavirus was discovered on the Gold Coast in late January, there have been 193 infections reported locally.

The most recent case was confirmed Tuesday, the first in almost a week.

No deaths have occurred in the city in that time.

The state has also one of the lowest death rates for the virus in the country behind NT and the ACT with 6 fatalities to date.

Dr Halliwell said while earlier predictions of the spread on the Gold Coast had been made based on international figures, the Australian experience was clearly very different to that elsewhere.

“There has been no official revision of figures as the number crunchers don’t have enough data on the Australian model, so it is hard to know what the end result will be,” he said.

Dr Roger Halliwell with staff at the Burleigh Cove Respiratory Clinic. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

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Despite the positive news Dr Halliwell said society will be forever changed by the coronavirus experience.

“I don’t think we will ever get back to complete normality,” Dr Halliwell said.

“First we will need a successful vaccine which could still be 12-18 months away or the ability to stamp it (coronavirus) out to a reasonable level where the cost of lives and the cost of social distancing on business can be fairly weighed up.

“But things like shaking hands, hugs and standing close to one another will be gone for a long time yet.”

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said while some restrictions had been relaxed, Queenslanders must continue to social distance and get tested for the virus.

“It is important to recognise that we are still getting the occasional case, and if we don’t manage that and we have more people out and about it could be a risk,” Dr Young said.

“That is why it is so important that people wherever possible maintain that 1.5 metre distance.”

“We have seen a slow decline in the number of people coming forward to be tested, and I’m sure that’s just because we’re not seeing respiratory illness in our community.

“But definitely if you’ve got any symptoms at all, this is really, really important … don’t stay home, come forward and get tested.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, said while some restrictions were being reviewed, the end to border closures and social distancing were unlikely to happen in the short term.

“Social distancing will be here for quite a long time until we have a vaccine,” the Premier said.

“We review the border restrictions at the end of the month. I can’t see that happening any time soon.”